Issaf Nashashibi Center for Culture and Literature is a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

, and

cultural center A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run. Asia * Cen ...

in East Jerusalem. Its collection includes over 800

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

s in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

, Ottoman Turkish, and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

; the oldest of which dates to the 12th century C.E. The institution was established in 1982 to serve primarily as a

research library A research library is a library which contains an in-depth collection of material on one or several subjects.(Young, 1983; p. 188) A research library will generally include an in-depth selection of materials on a particular topic or set of to ...

. In 1997, the institution reevaluated its mission to focus on promoting Palestinian literary heritage by engaging students in East Jerusalem and hosting cultural events for the local community.

History

The institution was organized largely by Ishaq al-Husayni, a scholar and member of the prominent al-Husayni family. Husayni partnered with the Dar Al-Tifl al-Arabi Institution to establish a research library and manuscript archive in the former mansion of

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

literary scholar, Issaf Nashashibi, in 1982. Restrictions on movement in and among

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, Gaza, and neighboring countries in which several million Palestinians reside, have severely limited scholarly access to the Center's collection. These impediments to access spurred the Center to reevaluate its mission in 1997. Attempting to be, first and foremost, a resource for scholars of Palestinian history, was deemed unfeasible considering the restrictions on movement and access. Today, the Center focuses on promoting Palestinian cultural heritage through events such as poetry readings and lectures aimed at engaging the population which has physical access to the Center—primarily residents of East Jerusalem.

Collection

The bulk of the Isaaf Nashashibi Center's collection was donated by the al-Husayni family. The late Ishaq al-Husayni solicited the remainder of the collection from the personal libraries of other prominent Jerusalem families. Today the collection includes several thousand printed books, approximately 800 manuscripts, and a collection of local newspapers dating back to 1967. The printed books cover

Islamic religion Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...

, history, and Arabic language literature. The Center lacks an online catalog of its print books. The majority of the manuscripts are in

; 30 titles are written in Ottoman Turkish or

. According to the Center's chief archivist Basheer Barakat, as reported to the Palestinian American Research Center, the topics of the manuscripts can be categorized as follows: 500 titles on

and Qu'ranic sciences, approximately 140 titles on

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from ...

, approximately 60 titles on the sciences, approximately 40 titles on history, and 6 titles on miscellaneous topics. The manuscripts are reportedly in good condition, though they could greatly benefit from modern preservation practices. The manuscript collection has been copied onto 16 mm

microfilm Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either photographic film, films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the origin ...

Catalogues

*Barakat, Basheer.
Catalog of Manuscripts of Is'af al-Nashashibi Library
'' (Jerusalem, 2002, Vol. 2.)

References

{{Authority control 1982 establishments in Israel Libraries in Jerusalem Archives in Israel Research libraries Cultural centers Palestinian culture Palestinian literature Arabic literature Organizations based in Jerusalem

History

Collection

Catalogues

See also

References